Government departments responsibility for construction

This article sets out the responsibilities of central government departments for different aspects of the construction industry.

[edit] HM Treasury

Cabinet office:

• Efficiency and Reform Group (ERG).
• Major Projects Authority (MPA).
• Government Construction Strategy.
• Government Construction Board.
• Government Property Agency (GPA).
• Office of Government Property.

Infrastructure and Projects Authority (formerly Infrastructure UK):

• National Infrastructure Plan.
• Government Construction Pipeline.

[edit] Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)

• Health and Safety Executive (HSE), a non-departmental public body (NDPB).
• Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (CDM).

[edit] Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

(Until September 2021, this department was known as the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), formerly the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG))

• Building regulations.
• Planning permission.
• Planning policy.
• Homes England.
• Fire and Rescue Service.
• Architecture (transferred from DCMS in April 2015)

[edit] Home Office

• Special licences.

[edit] Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

• Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), an independent regulator for England and Wales.
• Environment Agency (EA), a non-departmental public body (NDPB).
• Natural England, a non-departmental public body (NDPB).

[edit] Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)

• Historic England, a non-departmental public body (NDPB).

[edit] Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS)

Formerly the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS)

• Energy saving and climate change policy.
• BIM Task Group.
• Construction Sector Unit.
• Green Construction Board.
• Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS).
• Technology Strategy Board (TSB), a non-departmental public body (NDPB).
• Construction 2025 (jointly with industry).

In 2023, BEIS was split into three new departments, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and the Department for Business and Trade. For more information see: UK department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy split into three new departments

[edit] Local Authorities

• Planning permission.
• Building regulations approval.
• Environmental health.
• Licensing.

[edit] Devolution

• Following devolution in the UK, responsibility for many aspects of construction industry policy, oversight and regulation have been passed to the authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. See UK for more information. This includes building regulations and planning policy.

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings

• Arm's length body ALB.
• Composition of UK construction industry 2013.
• Construction 2025.
• Construction knowledge.
• Construction industry institutes and associations.
• Construction industry reports.
• Crown estate.
• Devolution.
• Fragmentation of the UK construction industry.
• Government Construction Strategy.
• Local authority.
• Office of Government Property.
• Other construction industry organisations.
• Planning policy.
• Public authority.
• Public body.
• Public contracting authority.
• STBA report to provide blueprint for post-COVID recovery.
• UK.
• UK construction industry.

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